OUR PICKSRunning Spies Is Not a Game for Amateurs | The Risk of Calling Everything a Nuclear Threat | Uranium-Mining Boom Is Sweeping Through Texas, and more

Running Spies Is Not a Game for Amateurs  (John Sipher and Michael V. Hayden, New York Times)
President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to destroy what he calls the “deep state” predate his first term in the White House. The sentiment raises fears in the intelligence community that there will be purges of career professionals, and that intelligence designed to protect American lives will be twisted to fit Mr. Trump’s personal interests.
A breakdown of public institutions may serve the short-term interests of the next occupants of the White House, but building a post-truth intelligence community will harm us all.

As Floodwaters Rise, Toxic Contaminants Released from Old Landfills Pose More of a Hazard to Nature and to Us  (Kate Spencer, The Conversation)
Flooding does have the potential to stir up long-forgotten sources of pollution – and climate change is exacerbating that. Over the last century, we’ve buried millions of tons of our household, industrial and hazardous waste, often in old quarries, or dumped on saltmarshes and floodplains.

Trump’s Plans for Tougher Border Enforcement Won’t Necessarily Stop Migrants from Coming to US − but Their Journeys Could Become More Costly and Dangerous  (Katrina Burgess, The Conversation)
Prevention through deterrence is a failed policy with a tragic human cost. It doesn’t stop migrants who are fleeing dire conditions, and it fuels violence and criminality. Drug cartels, armed groups and corrupt officials get rich while insecurity spreads, fueling more migration. It is a vicious cycle that will likely only get worse with stricter enforcement and mass deportations.

US Clean Energy, Defense to Be Impacted By China Export Curbs  (Beiyi Seow, AFP / Phys.org)
China’s retaliatory export controls could take a toll on the growing US clean energy sector and its defense industry, analysts say, as a trade tussle escalates between the world’s two biggest economies. Beijing announced this week it would ban exports of gallium, germanium and antimony to the United States, targeting materials used for everything from semiconductors to solar cells.

A Uranium-Mining Boom Is Sweeping Through Texas (Dylan Baddour, Wired)
State leaders want nuclear reactors to provide consistent, low-carbon power for AI, oil extraction, and more. But in South Texas, people worry mining for fuel will poison their water.

US Officials Recommend Encryption Apps Amid Chinese Telecom Hacking  (Andy Greenberg and Lili Hay Newman, Wired)
Plus: Russian spies keep hijacking other hackers’ infrastructure, Hydra dark web market admin gets life sentence in Russia, and more of the week’s top security news.

China’s Critical Minerals Embargo Is Even Tougher Than Expected  (Keith Bradsher, New York Times)
Beijing ordered companies around the world not to allow critical minerals mined in China to reach the U.S., while deepening its efforts to replace imports with domestic products.

A Growing Nuclear Debate: The Risk of Calling Everything a Nuclear Threat  (Chloe Shrager, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Nuclear noise coming from the Kremlin is nothing new in the scope of Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most recent saber-rattling has reinvigorated global fears of nuclear escalation in the conflict. But does this constitute a nuclear threat?